surgery

Open SESAME: A New Way to Clear the Heart’s Passageways

Minimally Invasive Procedure Provides Help for Ailing Hearts

open door in heart

In the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, two magic words were necessary to open the cave where treasure was hidden. At NIH, researchers are applying those same special words, ‘open sesame,’ to unlock a chamber that is similarly difficult to access. In this case, however, it’s the left ventricle of the human heart.

“Enter one of the greatest acronyms in medicine: Open SESAME,” says IRP senior investigator Robert Lederman, M.D., who leads the IRP’s Laboratory of Cardiovascular Intervention. “That’s what we’re doing: opening up space in the heart.”

Synthetic Materials Influence Body’s Healing Response

Research Could Lead to New Strategies for Treating Injuries

doctor examining knee after surgery

Modern medical advances mean that many people are not “only flesh and blood.” Mechanical devices and substances created in medical labs are commonly replacing or being added to parts of people’s bodies. A new IRP study has shed light on how some of those materials might influence the body’s healing process, providing insights that could eventually spur the creation of new ones that influence the behavior of the body’s immune system and allow doctors to better direct how the body repairs itself.

Immune Cells’ Rallying Cry Negates Cardiovascular Surgery’s Benefits

Existing Medications Could Extend Procedure’s Protective Effects

surgeons performing surgery

While modern surgery is undoubtedly a life-saving modern marvel, mucking around inside the human body rarely comes without consequences. Certain life-extending procedures meant to combat heart disease, for instance, commonly cause cardiovascular complications of their own. Fortunately, a team led by IRP researchers has identified a promising approach for staving off those surgical side effects to keep patients’ hearts robust for longer.

A Look Back at the Legacy of Theodor Kolobow

The IRP has been home to a number of truly remarkable scientists who spent decades making discoveries and developing technologies that would go on to improve the lives of many. One of these giants was Theodor Kolobow, M.D., who passed away in March of last year at age 87. During his many years at the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Dr. Kolobow made momentous contributions to the study of our lungs and cardiovascular systems, including advancements in the development of artificial organs and key insights into the biological processes behind acute lung injury. 

Dr. Kolobow's legacy lives on not only through his colleagues' fond memories and his lasting influence on medical practice, but also through the NIH's historical archives. Read on for a tour through Dr. Kolobow's life and career, as can only be told by the Office of NIH History. 

Dr. Theodor Kolobow

NIH Heart Surgery Artifacts – Aortic Valve Bypass Assembly

Pieces from aortic valve bypass assemblies

Sometimes as a museum curator, I come across a box in the collection with a vague marking and full of bits and pieces of … something. One of the coolest things is finding out what that something was and who created it. This photo shows pieces from the NIH lab of Dr. Stanley Sarnoff, dating from 1954-1962.

See NIH through Branson Brothers' Lenses: Bill

Bill Branson has been a photographer at the National Institutes of Health since 1984, when he left the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed. There, he had photographed the necropsy of the first chimpanzee in space, “Ham,” named for Hollomon Aero MED Air Base.

Da Vinci surgery robot used by Peter Pinto at NIH NCI

Behind the Scenes with NIH Photographer Jerry Hecht

NIH Blood Bank nurse Peggy Wirtzek guides Clinical Center engineers carrying supplies from an emergency blood cart up 10 floors to the operating room during a power outage in March 1960.

NIH Clinical Center Blood Bank delivery during power failure, 1960

Real-Time MRI Upgrades Heart Surgery

Using real-time MRI, Dr. Keith Horvath's group at the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) can precisely implant a replacement porcine heart valve using a collapsible stent more safely and quickly than with standard techniques.

"The reason for using [real-time] MRI is three-fold," Dr. Horvath explains...

Keith Horvath real time MRI Imaging